Pokegirls: Emerald

by Izcariot

Hoenn League is a tropical country teetering on the brink of civil war. Both sides are sliding towards a bloody conflict with an ancient conspiracy pulling their strings. In a world already broken, what will be left?

6. Tall Grass Warning

Chapter: Tall Grass Warning

XXXXX

Brendan Rubio was glowering at the man in front of him and silent shifting every few moments. When Brendan had first arrived, he had been civil for the most part. Hellos were exchanged and Brendan kept his composure and stayed respectful. He was meeting Professor Wanc, the lead Researcher of Hoenn, after all. It had all gone downhill from there.

He was constantly insulted during the physical and the professor had actually walked out in the middle of it to be replaced by a faceless drone! It wasn't that he did it, Wanc was probably busy. It was how he had simply stopped in the middle of it and walked out leaving him to stand there awkwardly for fifteen minutes. It had freaked him out, he had thought something was wrong with him! But then, an assistant had walked in and apologized. Wanc had just stopped caring! After the psyche evaluation The Professor had the gall to actually try and deny him his second his pokegirl! It was his right that he be given a starter - even if he already had Chloe - as a human! Never mind that he was the scion of the Rubio family!

Wanc, on his part, simply kept typing on the computer and occasionally taking a bite of his meal. He finished with the form and dug out one of the blank pokédex within his desk to connect to the computer. It immediately started downloading and writing the data to the device. In the lull, Brendan eyed the bald man expecting conversation of some sort to start. Wanc looked back at him without any emotion on his face then stared into the white abyss of his monitor, took another bite of his salad and wiped away the errant dressing from his mustache. Brenden looked up at the clock again. The download finally completed and Wanc gave the infernal process his final consent with a hearty tap on the enter key. He bent down and opened a lower drawer on his desk full of plastic wrapped papers. He took the top package and stripped off the layer of plastic in one, well-practiced, motion.

"Now here are your pokéballz. Taming for Dummies iz a mandatory item, zough I zuzpect your ezucazion iz more zen enough," he said in a rehearsed voice. As Brendan took the packet and gave it a dismissive shake, Wanc put his elbows on his desk and looked him straight in the eye for his send off. "Congrazulazionz Mizter Brendan Rubio."

Brendan held up the stack of papers and waved it around. "Thank you Professor. Anything else?"

Wanc forced a smile. "No, no nozing. Good luck."

Brendan put all of the items into his bag and then let himself out.

After the footsteps faded the senior scientist allowed himself a sneer. Another thing checked off his list of things to do that day. Ever since he had replaced that fool Bush as the Head Professor of the League his research had taken off in leaps and bounds. The promotion was worth the tediousness but it was still frustrating when he couldn't simply push it off onto his assistants. He had gotten fed up with the kid in short order and went back to his research in the middle of the physical. Then the bastard had taken the torch chick as his starter. He had grown rather fond of torturing it.

Oh well.

He clicked the computer back onto his favorite program shoving more of the leaves into his mouth. The screen of his computer was currently split between several feeds. Six in all, the first was black; the next four were alive and well: a battle here, a snarling pokégirl in another, and two boring stretches of forested paths. The last was blank, awaiting its subject in Wanc's next test.

It was his personal entertainment, much better than anything the TV had managed to produce or salvage. Honestly, if he had to hear Wayne call Kevin "Butt-Head" one more time he was going to kill something. He put his elbow on the table and rested his head on his hand, perhaps the lack of interesting television was why he had become a watcher in the first place? He'd always been fascinated by people and how they coped in stressful situations. Wanc could practically see it, the first time he had seen a tamer face the end: slammed against the rock, choking on blood and the weight of the seemingly weak grey skinned girl crushing his chest. Eyes bulging as the grip of death continued to close tighter and tighter. Screaming as her master died. Wanc snapped himself out of his reverie. He had written his thesis on the coping mechanism of tamers in the wild. Now he had much greater test subjects, brand new people who were clean slates, not tainted by the expectations of the world. Perfect test subjects for how people coped with pokégirls. He could never publish the findings while he was still alive, far too many 'ethical' and 'moral' dilemmas. It didn't make it any less interesting to see.

He had his other research project; the one assigned to him by the 'league.' The higher ups didn't find his passion to be relevant any longer and had forced him back into his original specialty. His recent career as a professor was spent looking for what made Sukebe so powerful: dimensional travel. Something that had eluded humans for years. The zealousness of the post war years had completely destroyed all of Sukebe's labs and equipment, the gateways among them. Neither the prototypes nor the replications made by the governments of the time had survived. Wanc had success stories but only bringing people into his world. Even then he hadn't found the dimension where the mad man had gotten the technology for pokégirls. But, Wanc would find the secret.

In the meantime, he had found other places. It wasn't considered as important as his primary research but it couldn't hurt it either. The two were complementary and if he just so happened to enjoy and entertain himself while searching for the secret of Sukebe's power then what a happy coincidence. He studied the fifth space on his screen. It was one of the calm ones; Wanc immediately recognized the first stretch of Route 101. His newest subject had finally taken his first steps into the world after a run in with the local doctor. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of anticipation at his latest experiment. The boy had been able to lie to him right out of the gate. He then found a pokégirl all by himself and then a healer as well. Wanc could agree with the report, his tactical foresight was at least above the others.

Only Beryl had shown such a concern with surviving that early. However, his newest subject Emerald had found a pokégirl by himself. He pulled out his psych report from the bowels of his desk. Loyal, strong will, strong sense of self, above average intelligence, tactical planning aptitude, violent imagination, good foresight but rash. How much of it was made up by Karina he wondered. His pokégirl had never been completely loyal and she had a vested interest in releasing more liberal tamers into the world. For example, why would a "loyal" person choose the name Iscariot? A little research taught him that Christianity had condemned Judas Iscariot to hell for betraying their messiah, why would a 'loyal' person choose the name of a famous traitor?

Wanc looked up at the monitor then brought the data for Emerald full screen. Beside the video - still gazing up the hill - was now his basic data.

Emerald

Name: Westland, Sean

Dimension: B7R

Species: B7R - Human

Age: 18

Abnormalities: None

Physical Condition: Healthy

Location: Route 101

Status: Active

Time Active: 4d9h12m

Licenses: Tamer, Storage

Tamer Rank: 1

Record: 0-0-0

Active Harem:

Charmelons level: 6

NurseJoy level: 7

The screen flashed.

WARNING!

Suddenly Crystal's screen was taking up his entire view. It was flashing red as Crystal's vital signs started to crash and his heart rate quickened. On the screen all Wanc could see was a double edged sword impaled in a male's chest. Shaking hands tugged at the blade. A pokégirl stood over him and smiled with a hysterical grin. That wound would definitely be fatal and it could be assumed that Crystal would be dead in short order.

The pokégirl was batted aside and a winged humanoid flashed past. Wanc took another bite and watched in rapt fascination as a bloody human hand feebly reached over to the battling pair. He cleared his throat and started typing on his part of the connection. He needed to cut the feed to Crystal's pokédex and bring the data back to his end. It would do no good if Crystal's pokédex was destroyed before he could get all the footage back. The process started just as the winged humanoid finally noticed her master's feeble gasps for air and ran towards him. Wanc clicked to see the entirety of his vital signs, he only had his heart rate and it was starting to fade. Another KIA then.

Tears were streaming down the celestials face as she tried to press some healing magic into her master. He could see the vitals though and they weren't improving. The angel's wings started to turn black and the pokédex finally downloaded all of its data back to his computer. He clicked off the connection and fried the pokédex, no evidence that way. Crystal's screen closed. He couldn't wait to get the whole video later but he took that as a sign and returned to his lab.

XXX

There I was, the edge of Littleroot town. One small step for mankind, one giant leap for man; or something like that.

Littleroot was shielded from the woods by a large concrete wall that resembled the sound breaks on the sides of highways. They formed a half circle all the way to the water's edge and towered over even the houses that were buttressed against it. An impressive piece of engineering to be sure. Though I did wonder why society had withdrawn to a medieval level of city planning. My experience was that humans had it under control, they were the top of the food chain. The books had something to the effect of humans were cowering against the pokégirl menace but my time there and the people around me told me otherwise.

Pokégirls were walking around but most, if not all of them, were accompanied by a human male. None of them looked to be the dominant partner either; in fact, they were cowering. The pokégirl menace looked plenty contained in Littleroot. The case in point being a man about my age dressed for an African Safari. Behind him stood a plain looking female, probably a pokégirl, with all of his gear dwarfing her meager frame; it looked like something out of Colonial Africa where the native was carrying all of the white guys stuff while Whitey stood and posed. The guy was chatting away with another male while the pokégirl had the same bored look that all of those man servants had.

Yeah, they were totally about to overrun mankind. Not that I could blame them for wanting to kill all humans; the only thing I had against them at that point was that I was a human, thus on the hit list. But now an impressive gate was towering over me and that was ruining all of personal experience. The concrete was a foot thick. The only thing that put me at ease were that they were wide open, allowing me to look out into the untamed forest. It was silent and unmoving as it stretched up the hill. Too quiet, as stereotypical as that statement was, forests were supposed to be more alive with birds and insects. That was what was missing. There wasn't the same ambience in the air. It was unnerving. A hard breeze blew past, highlighting the surreal moment as the forests started rustling.

Someone punched me in the arm.

"-are you listening to me?" Ruri demanded. I rubbed my arm theatrically as she huffed indignantly.

The din of the city died and forced my attention to the people of Littleroot. I hadn't really been paying attention until that moment but suddenly I was all too aware that I was surrounded by a crowd. I kept gingerly rubbing my arm, alarmed but not outwardly fazed that the city had paused. Before, the people had been milling about haphazardly taking up the slack from the forest but even the noise of the city had disappeared. Several of the men that had been in a prime position to see Ruri hit me were gawking with the tact of a rampaging elephant. They were only a little better than the pokégirls that were hanging behind them. Their stares were more abnormal, concern on some and a taste of hope on others. I looked at Ruri again; her breathing was shallow and she was wringing her hands as her eyes darted back and forth.

A pair of police officers approached out of the crowd. A male and female in a set of blue fatigues. She looked like officer jenny, which only surprised me for a second. I did, after all, have a nurse joy on my team now. I turned to face them and smiled.

"Is there a problem here sir?" The male asked, returning the smile. He kept looking between Ruri and me.

I stayed polite. "No problem."

"Are you sure, sir?" the officer asked in a tone that sounded suspiciously like he was consoling a victim.

"Yes, she was just consulting me on the finer points of my taming journey," I said.

"Ah, perhaps I might be of-" He tilted his head slightly, picking his words while subtly glaring at Ruri as if she were a criminal. "More tactful assistance?"

My polite smile continued, I wrapped my arm around her. "That's quite fine officer. I'm rather happy with her."

I didn't glance at Ruri but she was frozen in place and her stance was extremely rigid. I rubbed her shoulders as reassuringly as I could. A tense silence played out between us, I kept my smile the entire time.

"Have a nice day, sir," The officer bid us goodbye and motioned his Jenny to follow him. I gave the entire gaping crowd my best death glare then turned back to face Ruri.

Her earlier enthusiasm had dimmed and she cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Um, right. Where was I?"

"Physically assaulting me," I deadpanned. She laughed nervously and glanced at the people who had refused to disperse when the situation had been resolved and were undoubtedly giving her strange looks. I ignored them but for a moment I savored that look on her face. Perhaps my joke was a little out of place but seeing Ruri act so differently was mildly arousing. I meant amusing, it was mildly amusing.

"Um, right. Well, as I was saying, you should be okay until you get over that hill. According to most of the textbooks and my own experience that's where the pokégirls usually stop," she said.

"Your own experience?" I asked. She narrowed her eyes but then looked at the crowd uncomfortably. Interesting that the police had acted so alarmed by a little love tap, was that what it felt like to be the woman in an abusive relationship?

Didn't want that thought.

"At The Academy we would sometimes go out in groups and actually hunt pokégirls in Rustboro. The instructor always pointed out when we crossed the hundred yard mark and that's when we started to see ferals," Ruri explained.

Worldly sergeant indeed. I walked over to the threshold of the gate and paused. Thousand li, single step, yada yada.

I stepped over the gate and then looked around expecting someone to shout, 'hey wait! Don't go in the tall grass!' I took another step and then glanced back at Ruri, beaming at my own personal joke. She nonverbally accused me of being an idiot but my smile didn't waver and I motioned her to follow me. The walk was steep but she wasted no time in catching up. I could practically see my own experience on Route 1, of course back then I had the safety of a screen, a bird's eye view and it was all in the subtle monotone of 1996 technology but it was the same principle.

A thought stopped me: since it was like real-time pokémon then what was stopping a legendary from swooping out of the sky and killing me like Deathwing? I stopped and turned to her. "Hey what level of pokégirls are we gonna run into?"

She stopped a few steps in front of me. "Like 2 to 5 why?"

"Why only 2 to 5?"

"Sean," she groaned, giving me another look that was calling me stupid. Then she stopped, slowing her voice like I did when my little brother asked innocent, perfectly understandable but annoying questions. "This is the starting route for Hoenn. This means that every Tamer in the league has to start here and get up to a sufficient level. Now come on, we're losing daylight."

I glanced up at the sun, it was a little before mid-day. "Just how far is the next town?"

She didn't stop. "Did you actually look at a map last night or did you just fuck?"

"Actually we stayed up and talked about our feelings all night. It was a very touching moment," I said.

I could tell she rolled her eyes even from behind her.

"Apparently, the average time to Oldale is about half a day." She made a dismissive motion with her hand. "So as I was saying. This the Route 101 Taming Park. Since everyone in Hoenn has to start somewhere you get shipped to Littleroot town to pick up your starter and start your journey. That's why I was-"

Her speed fell off and allowed me to catch up to her. I wrapped an arm around her as we topped the crest of the hill; she leaned against me. I smiled, she was warm. However, it faded as we reached the apex of the hill and the entire route was spread out in front of me. I could actually see a respectable distance over the horizon. It helped that Route 101 was a valley that forced you to start walking up a cliff to get to the next town. In the game there were impassable brown lines that made sure you went where the developers wanted you to go; they existed in Hoenn as two giant monstrosities that blocked the path to the next town. They looked like waves stopped in mid-break.

"Is this part of the Tamer Park?" I asked.

"The giant cliff in the middle?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Yeah."

XXX

The sounds that I thought of in Littleroot, earlier?

The lack of one's that made the forest creepy?

When all the sounds of the forest suddenly rushed back, it was much worse.

The walk down the hill and towards the towering cliff was relatively quiet but nerve racking. Ruri was as tense as a coiled snake. She was constantly glancing around at the tree line and reacting to every twitch. With her arm wrapped around mine, I could tell every time she heard something because her arm locked up. And I mean every time she heard a sound. It made the pleasant mid-day breeze into something horrible. Honestly, if it were dark I would understand because apparently slender-woman stalked the woods but, it being mid-day with excellent visibility, it was unnecessary and freaked me out.

Perhaps it was her but I myself was a lot more alert then I would've been. I had hiked a few times but the threat of wildlife was minimal. That the more experienced of us was cowering in broad daylight? Well, I was a lot more observant than normal. There were a few twig snaps that I caught sight of a figure duck behind a tree or some foliage. I would've asked Ruri about the kind of damage a feral pokégirl could really do but one look at her paranoid face and I decided against it.

Also it was kind of nice, like a horror film where your girlfriend is cutting off circulation to your arm. Though, walking through a barely tamed forest ruined my fantasy.

Nonetheless, it was a quiet, if stressful, walk that was doomed to come to an end. The cliff face stopped just short of actually blocking the road. Honestly, it looked more like a battle scar then anything, a rough patch of jagged rocks that might have been left over by an earth attack. The first thing that came to mind was a tectonic shift, like in a disaster movie where half the earth suddenly grew ten feet. It was simple enough to turn right and follow the road up the side of the cliff. The path sandwiching us between jagged rocks and an ever increasing drop. It was actually kind of nice looking over the side and watching the forest get clearer and clearer. If only the creators of that road had thought to include some kind of railing, my fear of falling kept me on the safer side.

The path ended before the cliff did. The sudden drop ran off to the south and formed a little alcove of forest. In front of us, like a gate, were two massive trees. Compared to the manicured road that didn't even suffer ruts, the stamped grass beyond was pathetic: a barely cleared trail that curved around several bends and into the green unknown. I stared at the abrupt end of the road and leaned against the black rock of the cliff.

"How do they get supplies to Littleroot from Old, what was it Olddale?" I asked.

I feared the answer. I really didn't want to go into the forbidden forest, not with how Ruri was acting on the main road. Who knew what was waiting if we walked through that? Ruri stopped watching the forest below us and gave me a forced smiled. "What? Don't want to go for a hike?"

I bounced off the rock and stared at the goat path that led into the woods like a creepy painting. "Not really."

Ruri's laugh was forced and she kept looking down at the forest like a general overlooking her armies. "They don't. This is purely a Taming Park; just Tamers and Watchers in here."

I gave the cliff above me one last longing look and followed it up to the overhang fifteen feet above me. Yeah, definitely don't blame ten year olds for not being able to climb these.

"And killer pokégirls." I pointed at the goat path and beckoned Ruri forward. "Ladies first and all that. You have point."

Ruri had expected that and walked into the tree line without pause. "Let's try to stay quiet through this part alright?"

Just like hunting with my uncle. Great.

XXX

Per her advice, it was a deathly quiet hike through the path. It was all relatively flat but nothing like the forests I grew up around. Pine forests were nice because there was a lot of walking space between the trees. The forest was neither a pine forest nor manicured and anything that hadn't been trampled underfoot was blocked by gnarled trees, tangled vines, and shrubs. I felt claustrophobic and the massive humidity clung to my shirt like a second skin. This entire area needed a good wild fire to clean it out. Other than that, the path led us tried and true deeper into the verdant green maw. Every once and a while something would howl or 'cacaaw' and give the place a haunted forest feel.

We were not trampling through the woods like an armored division. Ruri and I didn't talk, our eyes would lock every so often when a snapped twig got too close for our comfort but that was it. I think I was doing pretty well. I left as small a footprint as possible when I made a step and avoided the crunchy stuff. What little practice I had from the occasional weekend paintball match was helping out greatly. Being so close to the premier the military base, I grew up with a lot of SF kids. All of them wanted to keep up the tradition too so there was never a shortage of devious traps and ambushes. I got good at it because I stayed in one spot, covered up and waited for them to come to me. Usually on one of the trails a lot like the one in front of me.

Didn't want that thought.

Ruri would occasionally hold up her fist and we'd stop. Like a good little inexperienced Lieutenant, I listened to the voice of experience. It was always a false alarm though and we'd keep walking.

Her hand came up.

We both settled into a crouch. I peaked around Ruri to get a better look and immediately found the corpse that was blocking our path. Fear flooded me. The two of us sat there frozen as the forest continued to breath. A heavy wind fluttered the trees around us. Ruri and I both scanned the woods carefully but nothing was shifting. She moved forward and I followed. There was nothing around us.

Correction, nothing attacked us.

I only had a passing familiarity with corpses, not being a sociopathic murderer nor an avid hunter, but that pile of bones had been stripped almost clean. They probably weren't fresh because there wasn't blood nor maggots. This registered as safe in my mind because my gut, probably drawing from a CSI episode, told me so. It wasn't exactly a skeleton but what flesh was left was barely clinging to the bones like a torn tarp. It was humanoid except there was a lot of fur around the bones, so it was probably a pokégirl. I tiptoed around the edges of the dead grass - nature's version of a chalk outline - which signaled the former body. I couldn't even try to hide my disgust. Seeing the horrified look on the blackened skull was like getting slapped in the face that maybe Ruri had reason to be scared of every snapped twig. I glanced up at her to see her staring down at the body with pursed lips and a grimace. I swallowed the lump in my throat and then studied the area around the corpse if only to get a picture of what I should avoid.

There were foot prints, a little smaller than Ruri's but with talon marks on the end. What was a little more disturbing was the pile of feces sitting off in the tree line. Whatever had killed that girl had stayed a while. That's when I noticed the slight rut in the ground. There was a pattern of two lines that became jagged and varied in depth. But…

"They're drag marks," I whispered.

Ruri silently slapped me on the shoulder and glared. I made a little mock bow to say I was sorry and then studied the marks. I wiped a bead of sweat of my brow. Should we go after them? I glanced back at the blackened corpse and then grimaced. She grabbed my shoulder and pulled. I followed after her without a thought. I definitely didn't want to become the next meal.

A woman screamed.

It was high pitched, on our left and way to close for comfort. Ruri moved to block whatever it was and we stood there tensed as the trees started to crack. It stampeded towards us. I leaned up against a tree and waited for the target to come to me. She did the same and we both stared at the ground to rely on our ears alone. I was more in my element now; all I had to do was let them come to me. It kept shrieking and trampling foliage as it rampaged ever closer. The flapping of wings follow after it. The greenery of the forest betrayed nothing. I bounced a little to get rid of the jitters; all I had to do was wait behind the tree and kill it once it passed. That was the mantra that kept me glued to the tree.

The stampede came closer and closer. I studied the area behind us, nothing was moving: the wind had died. Another stick cracked as the chase continued towards us. The sound of wings beating the wind into submission haunted every snap like an echo. It was like a horrible guessing game about what was happening. All I could see was the under growth and a few layers of trees. Then the hysterical screaming of a blubbering horror victim started. I didn't bother to move nor get a better look; that would betray my position. I didn't move at all. The crunching kept moving closer and then a woman yelped and the stampede died

I glanced up at Ruri. She was in a wide action pose, studying the forest, her tail waving anxiously. A bird screeched and suddenly the screaming got a lot worse. The sound of flesh ripping started wafting past us; an incoherent cacophony of shrieks and screams followed. Ruri studied the ground as the screaming echoed past.

"Arooo-!"The howl was savagely cut short.

I followed her example in studying the ground. The chase was over. The prey had been caught. I took a deep breath, having stopped at some point during the wait. I debated whether to attack. They would be distracted by their new dinner, weakened after having fought off the prey and relaxing. We could wait for them to eat and relax, then attack just as they were digesting their meal. Little coos, like baby birds, started conversing then the ripping of meat followed. Like a family of vultures having dinner.

Ruri shifted and turned to start east again. I shook my head no.

Arooooww!

From the north something howled. I stopped and waited as Ruri went back to divining the location via sound alone. Another stampede, a big one, came down through the forest from the same place as the howling. They smashed trees and snarled like a pack of dogs. The sounds of eating stopped and suddenly the more violent calls of battle came from the feeding birds. Ruri and I stayed rooted to our spot on the trail as the first sounds of fighting actually broke out and then there was a lot of thumping and ripping as an actual battle started rumbling through the forest.

It was even better, we could attack them while they were killing each other. We needed to actually train and get some fighting experience; that was what the forest was for any way. I waved at Ruri to get her attention and pointed at the direction of the fight. I pressed my hands together and then parted them: divide. I then smashed the air: conquer.

Ruri gave me a bewildered look. We needed to work on nonverbal communication.

"We should take advantage of this. Go mop up the survivors," I whispered.

She thought about it. "Yeah, sounds like a plan."

We waited a few more moments until the battle died a little. We didn't have to wait long because it sounded like a slaughter. Eventually, Ruri took a step into the foliage and I followed. The fight had sounded close but as we walked further and further in, I started to doubt myself. Ruri stayed alert and I knocked the bark off trees to keep our bearings. Eventually, the sounds of battle were directly in front of us.

We spotted what looked like two female werewolves fighting three harpies. The harpies looked like they had been transplanted out of World of Warcraft: with wings for arms and massive talons on their feet. None of them were unscathed and at least one of the harpies looked ready to die. There were a lot of open wounds on all of them and at least one of them was missing a chunk out of her wing. The werewolves were cut up as well but they seemed to be winning.

There were at least ten of them bodies either dead or dying. There were more wolf corpses than harpies though. Maybe the harpies would win the fight after all. I motioned Ruri to follow the southern edge of the fight until we were on a small overlooking hill. We settled behind a pair of gnarled together trees with a clear view of the harpy's backs, a better spot to charge from.

"Looks like the harpies are a higher level," I whispered.

"Yeah," she murmured back, studying the fight more intently then I. She was bobbing and weaving her head subtly as the werewolves fought off the harpy onslaught.

One of the werewolves, they were both brown furred and looked really similar, took a bad blow to her thigh and collapsed. It didn't look fatal but it did look painful. A harpy swooped in for a kill but the other lycanthrope jumped in front of the blow and bit down on her wing. The harpy beat her wings to no avail as the weight dragged her down and the injured werewolf pounced. Her throat became the next cruel target as the two went to end their enemy quickly. I think the jugular, or whatever the equivalent was, got ripped out because one of the lycanthrope's came up with her blood dripping off her fur.

The other two were on them before they could continue their assault, not that it did any good for the Harpy on the ground. Her head was lolling to one side as her feeble attempts at communication failed. The winged pair descended and started raking the werewolves with the talons on their feet, forcing them to fall back, off the critically injured Harpy.

"Can you take them?" I asked.

Ruri didn't answer and instead charged out into the clearing. She didn't scream but it caught me by surprise that she just blatantly ran out. I stared after her wide eyed and then huddled up closer to the tree. Well, it wasn't like I could really tell her a strategy to use. All she had was scratch and tail whip and what the fuck else was she going to do besides scratch? Ruri silently ran across the field and tackled the closest harpy out of the sky and started swiping at the back of her head with her claws. She was a woman possessed. I studied the other pair but the werewolves seemed content to have the help. They double teamed the remaining harpy. I kept switching back and forth between the two fights until Ruri got off the other girl and the harpy was worn down.

Ruri waited a few tense moments before one of the Werewolves fell back to get her breath. Ruri charged.

"Diiiiiilllldo."

Whatever it was, it was literally whispering in my ear and it was a she. I froze.

I turned my neck slowly, stuck by fear but driven by curiosity. She was short and malnourished. There were leaves in her hair and she had a vacant look on her face that made her look like a wild child or an escaped mental patient. Considering where I was and that she was female, neither was likely. Her face was flushed and her nose was encrusted with snot to the point that she looked like death warmed over. That didn't stop her from having a crooked smile on her face that scared the hell out of me. I took a shallow breath and scanned her for weapons but all I found was a pine cone in her hand and a thick branch hanging out of her cunt. Occasionally, she would wobble on her feet, the branch would stick in the ground and her face would twitch slightly. Maybe in pleasure, most likely in pain.

I grimaced, just the thought of it made me wince.

"Diiiiilllldo," she repeated.

Then she held up the pinecone in her hand suggestively.

What the fuck was she going to do with that?

The girl lurched forward and tried to tackle me. I jumped back, slamming into the tree; it only gave me a moment's pause as I groped my way past it and tried to settle into a solid stance. Her branch caught mid-step and she lurched forward pathetically. The girl didn't seem to be fazed and kept pushing forward even as the branch fought valiantly. I watched in disgusted fascination as the branch finally splintered and a trail of blood ran down her leg.

Crack.

The girl lurched forward as the branch broke. I planted my lead foot and punched as soon as she got in range. Instead of my fist going forward, I was suddenly tipping back. My head screamed at me; I tried to correct myself but it was too late. I was falling down the hill. I stumbled to get my footing and only twisted my feet against each other. The girl stumbled forward drunkenly and watched me slam into the dirt. I landed in the dead center of my back and all the wind flew out of my lungs. I glanced up desperately as Ruri batted away a blow from the last werewolf and then kicked at a harpy when it went for her back. I watched it for a moment before the thought of my own problems hit me again.

Literally.

What little air I recovered was thrown out of my lungs as the little dirty girl landed on my chest. The stick in her cunt was stabbing me in the leg, the pinecone slammed into my cheek and chunks of it batted me in the eye. A shockwave cut through my nose and the pinecone was going back up. I punched at her face and felt it slam into her neck. The pokégirl recoiled back. The stick jabbed me in the balls. Pain lit up in my head. I flailed at her, trying to get her off more than hurt her. I got her in the stomach and then in the face. She fell off me and I kicked at her, landing a blow dead center in the chest. I grinned in triumph as she fell on her back. I scurried to my feet. The pokégirl was just recovering; I ran forward and decked her as hard as I could. Blood flew out from where my fist crunched her nose.

I punched her in the face again. She rocked back and forth, her arms came up to block haphazardly. I hooked around them, hit her in the head again. Her hand batted me in the face; I punched her again and again. The pokégirl's head hit the ground and she stopped moving. I finally sucked in a deep breath and touched my cheek where she had hit me with the pinecone. It stung. I stared at her form for a second more and then turned to get a look at Ruri's fight. A blur of brown filled my vision.

A red figure in a dress appeared in front of my face and caught the blur in a lock. I stepped on the dildo girl's leg and had to steady myself but Ruri held the line against the rampaging werewolf that was snarling, less than a foot away. Her face was dirty and her fur matted but she was attractive, if only in the vaguely human shape of her face. The blood matting her fur only made me feel more confused. Ruri glanced back at me and fought valiantly against the thrashing motions of the werewolves frantic scratches.

She yelled something at me.

I stepped back to the left in a daze as I watched Ruri fight the werewolf in a battle of strength. They were both small but the way they vied for subtly movements made them look like sumo wrestlers. They were content to simply force the other one to lose through strength alone. The look of intensity in Ruri's eyes as she gripped the werewolves forearm and tried to wrench it into a pretzel was glowing. The werewolf had the same look in her eyes. They were enjoying this.

Two people were fighting in front of me and I couldn't even help. What could I do? The answer was immediate, I could just hit the enemy! It wasn't some mystical force, it was a fucking fight!

That book could go fuck itself! I charged over and swung my foot out in a sweeping kick aimed at the werewolf's knee. It felt a lot like kicking a soccer ball, up until my ankle hit the back of her knee instead of my foot. It was like hitting a brick wall. The fact that my ankle hit instead of a more solid part of my leg only made it worse.

The werewolf's leg buckled and she rocked forward. Ruri used the shift to start pressing down on her and then finally bent the girls arm behind her head. The girl howled in pain and struggled pathetically against her until she held up her now free hand and summoned a fireball from out of nowhere. My mind filled in the blank quickly, ember. Apparently, Ruri had leveled up. She held the fireball over her head for a theatrical moment.

Then it came down like a gavel.

The werewolves screamed and howled, alternating between wolf and human as the ball of flames exploded over her like an infernal shower. Ruri's manic grin was in full force as the werewolf's struggling became weaker and weaker in her grip. Even in the bright midday sun, the shadows on Ruri's face were more than enough to supplement her maniac grin. The girl really loved to inflict harm. She bathed in the pain of others and drew delight from their suffering. The Doctor's Damsel and now the werewolf, whose burnt corpse and pungent smell of burning hair was now making my stomach churn.

She finally let the corpse fall and gave me a satisfied smile. I returned a withering look and then glanced down at the burning pile of flesh that had long since stopped screaming and was now bubbling unhealthily. I didn't even fight the disgust on my face. It smelled worse than shit; I swallowed the first traces of bile escaping from my throat. The scent was nauseating and sweet, putrid and like cooked beef all at the same time.

Ruri was talking to me. I blinked at her with a questioning confused look on my face. What was that ringing? Why couldn't I hear her? She tilted her head and her mouth moved again. I shook my head. She finally gave up and just put her hands on my shoulders and suddenly I was able to hear again. "Sean?"

"Yeah?" I asked.

"We won," she repeated.

Great, we did. Why couldn't I stop convulsing? My hand was shaking worse than an Alzheimer patient's.

"And now, we can leave before I throw up." I glanced at the smoldering corpse.

"Not until we get you patched up. You look like shit. Your face is cut and your knuckles look worse." She held up my hand for emphasis, it was still trembling in her grip. My knuckles looked a little off under the all the blood.

Suddenly, it all started hurting, like Ruri's talking had somehow reminded my body to feel pain. My hand twitched. I grimaced.

"Could you throw out Savanna then?" I asked.

She yanked Savanna's pokéball off my belt.

Savanna was soon patching me up in the middle of the clearing. She ran a soothing hand over my face, wondrous warmth and good feelings ran along wherever Savanna's green glow went. It felt amazing. She simply shook her head at me and kept running her hands like a scanner. "How you managed to hurt yourself this much from just punching a Dildoran is beyond me."

A cackling fireball glowed behind me. It was cast down and another groaning voice was silenced in this graveyard. I shrugged at Savanna.

She pressed on. "You had a boxer's fracture on each hand. Didn't anyone teach you how to punch?"

I had never taken a martial arts class. I did a lot of moving and my Mother did actually raise me alone. No way was she going to be able to afford nor let me go to a martial arts class. Besides, it wasn't like there was one in the middle of nowhere where I grew up. So no, I didn't know how to punch or even that there was a 'way' to punch. I just stared forward and didn't respond to her question. Apparently, combat training was par for the course in this world and I wasn't cutting it.

Ruri lifted another fireball above her and toasted a groaning pokégirl. The last of the groaning stopped.

Savanna lifted her hands and stretched her wrist. "There, all finished. We have officially patched ourselves up from our first fight together."

She beamed at me while Ruri rolled her eyes and mouthed something that looked like 'what we?' I flexed my hand and studied the small fire that was eating away at the pokégirl who had attacked me. The forest was too green to catch fire.

I beat her; I had beaten a pokégirl in a fight. I smirked. "Yeah, we did."

"Then we celebrate?" Ruri asked as she put her hands on her hips and smiled seductively at me. Savanna did as well.

I smiled despite myself but the smell was ruining any attempt I made at suppressing it. It was so pungent it overrode every other process in me. I could even taste it. "Yeah. But later. We're deep in the shit."

Their smiles were replaced with serious nods. Ruri went as far as to shake the lecherous thoughts out of her head. I glanced around and tried to find a distinctive tree or the hill I fell down.

After giving the area a curious glance, I found three hills in the general area that would've fit and none of them were in the same direction. "Which way did we come from?"

"I don't know; I was a little busy fighting. You were supposed to stay back and keep our bearings," Ruri accused.

"Can we not fight about this now, we're lost," I kept scanning the trees around us. It was all extremely confusing because every tree looked the exact same as the tree two spaces away from it. I thought I had a generally good sense of direction but no, nothing looked really distinguishing enough. I spun around a few more times and then finally stopped because the feeling in my throat was too much.

My stomach betrayed me and I wanted to throw up again. I wobbled until Savanna reached out a stewarding hand and I swallowed the bile. Ruri radiated disappointment, with her arms crossed and a look that accused me of being an idiot. And not in an amused way either.

"What did I forget this time?" I half groaned, half-asked.

"No, I'm not even going to answer this one, just think about it," Ruri challenged. Savanna studied her with a worried expression but then looked at me with a more reassuring look.

She sounded tired of me. It must have been basic otherwise she wouldn't have challenged me like that. But basic to a tamer which meant it probably didn't require any special knowledge like moss only growing on the north side of trees. So basic? Basic. Basic. Dammit a map would help out here. Map. A map. Apps. The pokédex!

I pulled it out of its pocket on the front strap of my bag. I flicked the screen and scrolled down. Sure enough after I opened the app menu the second thing was the 'map' button. It brought up a simple map of the entire Island of Hoenn including a very familiar route system that more than a little resembled the pokémon games. The route between the two central cities was flashing, which didn't help at all. I held the screen up to Ruri and conveyed my annoyance.

She had just insulted me for nothing but still looked unimpressed. "Click the route."

I did and was given a much more in depth map, including a white dot off in the green woods that represented me. It was honestly very interesting; the goat trail we were on earlier was traced out by a dotted line. The main road was the only light brown part and it was cut by the same dark brown lines that represented the cliff faces. Everything else, including the patch of forest I was in, was a solid block of green. I took a hesitant walk towards what I thought was east and the little dot moved a pixel to the south, deeper into the forest and back the way we had come. Thank god, I hadn't just march off like that. I turned off the pokédex and smiled at Ruri.

"We need to go that way," I said and pointed off towards what I now knew was east and back towards the path we had followed in the first place.

Ruri smiled and walked ahead of me. "We'll train you yet."

"Then maybe I won't pee on the carpet anymore," I grumbled.

They both chuckled. "There's a T2 for that."

We went back to silent mode.

XXX

The rest of the march was quiet as the trip went back to being a silent trudge through the forest. Ruri and I both fell back into the habit of stepping around things that would crunch and rolling our steps. Savanna pulled up the rear and was so quiet that I had to check if she was still following us a few times. With my new knowledge of the map feature I kept getting the urge to check the map and watch where we were going.

Every time I did it, it just made me realize how slow we were. Like looking at a clock while waiting, the distance just seemed to drag on as we kept marching east. Eventually, the forest started to thin out and the trees got smaller as we kept walking, even the sounds of the forest started to die. Soon, it became an open field of lazily swaying grass. We took in the change of view as the entire field stretched before us. It felt strange after only seeing forest for so long that suddenly there was a grassy plain that felt like Kansas.

Off in the distance was an encampment of tents. It looked like someone had relocated a military post from Afghanistan wholesale, walls and all. It was hard to miss even when they were at least 1000 yards away and barely poking over the tall grass. The smoke lazily drifting above the compound brought the faint breeze of food with it. My stomach and Ruri's both growled to this effect. We gave each other withering looks but then unsubtle glances at the camp. Savanna didn't say anything.

"Think they're friendly?" I asked.

"They look organized and official. Those aren't bandit tents. Not that style and that sheer size," Ruri said.

Savanna nodded her head. "I agree, only the league or a research group could field that size and sophistication."

It was hard to argue with their logic and my stomach. That was exactly what made me stop; hunger was no reason to walk headlong into a hostile encampment. I compromised. "Let's just get a little closer so we can see what this is all about."

They nodded and we started to walk towards the camp; my pokédex beeped loudly. We all froze and the looks I got made me feel like my phone just went off in class.

"You didn't silence your 'dex?" Ruri demanded.

I fished it out and clicked it alive. I didn't respond to Ruri due to how embarrassed I felt but my cheeks were a good enough answer. The screen was filled with a cartoony sky background around a wooden bulletin board; the header was filled with yellow bubble letters that spelled out "calls." It looked very Disney. Most of my screen was hidden behind a more official, dark grey system notification box with white letters.

Call Feature updated.

Call Tutorial activated.

As you know, the central duty of a Tamer is to cull the pokégirl menace and bring order back to the human race and Earth. The primary means of this is the capture and training of pokégirls for use in further curbing the pokégirl threat. However, a Tamer should strive for more: to create as well as cull. This is what the Call System is for. A Call is a bulletin for local Tamers to assist in certain projects that the League and approved parties need assistance with. These calls are optional but highly encouraged as monetary rewards are always assured and possibly more.

Please help Hoenn League build a better future by helping those in need.

I clicked 'ok' and the cartoonish sign returned but with a fresh 'call' posted. 'Route 101 Ruins Assistance,' I clicked it and an animation played. A piece of paper was rolled out and glued onto the board by a glue roller. It looked like a Wild West bounty posting. I blinked at the sheer amount of animation work they had put into this app.

Location: Route 101

Type: Labour

Reward: 20,000 SLC

Info: An archeological expedition is in need of extra protection and manual labor to continue its League appointed duties.

Mark on map?

Yes/Maybe Later

I clicked, 'yes.'

I liked how you weren't not allowed to say 'no.' Suddenly, my map feature was back up and the nearest yellow dot was right in the direction of the camp.

"Well that answers that question," Savanna commented as she read over my shoulder.

Sure does.

"Now silence that damn thing," Ruri ordered.

I groaned and would've yelled at -corrected her- for ordering me around but it was pointless when I was at fault.

XXX

Petalburg City drifted by Norman's window. The people of the city would stop and stare in wonder as his car drove past and Norman would simply watch them from behind his one way glass window. The car pulled itself through the crowded streets at a snail's pace. It would stop frequently allowing Norman to watch the various side streets teeming with people. It was never a fast trip, more of a public relations mission then getting from point A to point B. However, some things needed to be seen by the public.

He glanced down at the bouquet of flowers in his lap. They were various muted colors. Apparently, they all had meanings. He had never had time for such nonsense. He left it to the flower shops and their pokégirls. It wasn't like anyone would notice what kinds of flowers he laid on his daughter's grave. Norman paused his dysphoria to watch an older woman pass by his window. She was praying towards the motorcade. Heh, old ladies clinging to religion to answer their rapidly ending lives. A familiar hand gripped his and squeezed. Norman didn't even need to look down to know whose it was. He had the feeling memorized.

"We'll get through this," Caroline assuaged.

Norman nodded, giving her his best reassuring smile.

Burying a daughter who was still alive; who was still out there somewhere. Norman took a deep breath as the car finally sped up and left the center of Petalburg to drive north. It was only a short drive once it could get up to speed.

Soon, he was rising out of the car and staring at a field of tombstones as the rest of the procession found a way to cram itself into the graveyard. Norman waited for Caroline and Max to join him and he wrapped his arm around hers so that they could make it to their seats before any more of these sycophants would bother him. Behind him, a greater stream of people came up the driveway and took their seats. Every one of them had their heads bowed and looked somber enough, Norman almost glowered at them. They had already greeted these people at the service. Now was simply a time for the people to look repentant and ingratiate themselves to the cameras that were lurking farther away.

His son, Max, walked past him and took his seat by Norman's side. He was studying the ground one second and fidgeting the next. His children had never been close and the boy looked out of place in a suit.

Norman ran his thumb over his wife's hand and tried to make her feel at least a little better. She was holding up better than him, at least in public. As the CFO of a major contracting firm she could not show weakness in public. Her ability to put a straight calm mask on at a moment's notice was just one part that he loved about her. She straightened her posture and watched the pallbearer bring the casket forward.

Norman studied the simple picture of his daughter resting on the tombstone. She had taken it last year for her final year at The Academy. She look poised and collected in front of a red backdrop, still very human and beautiful as oppose to her pokégirl transformation.

Where was she now? With that boy? Was he treating her well? Did she actually remember her family? The record's never mentioned that the mind wipe had occurred or if had been cancelled. What was the boy like?

His thoughts drifted back to the hospital in Littleroot. When he returned and found her in bed with that random peasant. She was actually snuggling into him! His daughter would have never done that in her right mind. Her being a pokégirl had changed her so quickly! And when the bastard actually brushed a strand of hair out of her face! Like he actually knew her! In that moment he had wanted to kill the little bastard who had ruined their plans to give Ruri to someone trustworthy, someone he knew would treat her with dignity and respect benefiting her original station.

But Norman couldn't find anything on him; Sean Iscariot was a mystery that just appeared in Wanc's employ a day ago. When someone of his stature couldn't find out anything about you, you were obviously being protected by someone with connections. And if that was the wrong person it could spell the end for his family. Everything would be taken from them. Luckily, tamer was a dangerous occupation even in Hoenn and a new métis corpse wouldn't cause anyone to bat an eye.

Everyone came from somewhere and as the casket was lowered into the grave Norman swore to find out Iscariot's secrets. And destroy him.

XXXXX